4 Temptations

John 8:3-11

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Today, I’d like to read from John Chapter 8, which describes several types of temptations. As I read, I’d like you to listen to what some of those temptations are.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:3-5)

So, the first temptation is pretty obvious. This woman has committed adultery. The setting is that Jesus is in the temple area, and he’s teaching people. Of course, the temples in Jerusalem. You know, you think of it as a holy city. And yet here is this woman caught in the act of adultery so close that they’re able to not only see her and grab her, but they bring her immediately to Jesus. So what do we learn from this?

Well, we learn, first of all, that we can be tempted anywhere and at any time. So even if we’re at church or among believers, temptations are always going to be around us.

Secondly, temptations includes motives. Don’t you wonder why were these men so ready to find this woman, condemn her, and bring her to Jesus? Were they concerned about this woman’s soul? No, certainly not. They were trying to find fault with Jesus. And really, in the end, they ultimately just wanted to look better than everyone else. And that’s a serious temptation. We also have to watch out as we consider what other people are doing. Are we judging them and why are we judging them? Jesus, of course, confronted them, challenged them when he told them

Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)

And of course, it says that one by one these accusers left the presence of Jesus and end up leaving this woman standing there alone with him. But this shows the third type of temptation, and that is that these men, realizing their sin, had an opportunity to confess their sin to Jesus. But rather than that, they wanted to hide their sin or avoid Jesus. And how sad that is. But I can understand why. After all, Jesus had no sin. He had the right to pick up all those stones and throw it at every one of the people around him because they were all sinners.

But you know what Jesus did instead? Later, he was willing to say basically, God, I want you to throw all the stones of judgment at me as he was suffering and dying on the cross. He did that to take away all of our sins so that we have nothing to be afraid of before God. And so that temptation of avoiding Jesus is just the opposite of what we should be doing. We should be coming to him. That we receive this wonderful gift, forgiveness, that he has won.

The fourth temptation is that some people confuse forgiveness of sinners with accepting sin. Now we see, as Jesus talked to the woman, he asked,

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:10-11)

What this is saying is that Jesus forgiveness does not give people a license to sin. Rather, Jesus was sent by God so that He could free people from their sin, not excuse sin, or allow it to continue. So when we also look to God, first of all, to help us against temptation, we continue to hear his word. We will pray. We will watch to make sure that we are not falling into any temptations. And also, we will continue to look to Jesus forgiveness, realizing that he has come to set us free from our sins. And now he gives us an opportunity as we receive that forgiveness, to also live as his people so that others who are also bound by sin may be set free. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we and all people deserve your judgment against our sins. But you put all of our guilt on your son. Help us to trust in your promises. And a stand against temptation so that we may always be your people. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.